IN Focus: Previewing Tuesday’s mayoral, council races

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INDIANAPOLIS (October 30, 2015) - Candidates for City-County Council are hitting the campaign trail ahead of next week's election. But which party will control the council next year?

Currently, the Democrats holds a 15-14 majority. But last year the state legislature decided to get rid of the four at-large seats, all currently held by Democrats, which means the new configuration could give the GOP a strong chance of taking control of the council.

The twenty-five council districts have also been re-drawn, and with a number of close races, it looks like the balance of power is truly still up for grabs.

The situation has also led to some interesting match-ups, which we discuss with IndyStar columnists Matt Tully and Tim Swarens in the video above.

Two current councilors, Republican Christine Scales and Democrat Pam Hickman are running against each other in district three, along with third-party candidate Christopher Bowen.

“I think it’s unusual in a lot of ways,” said Scales. “The fact we have no more at-large councilors and we have this situation where you have incumbent pitted against incumbent.”

“We have both said we do not want to get negative we want to win on our positives not any negatives,” said Hickman, who currently serves as an at-large councilor.

One of the races being closely watched is in district two, where Mayor Greg Ballard is now getting involved, endorsing fellow Republican Colleen Fanning in a new TV commercial.

“Obviously having Mayor Ballard’s endorsement on television was an enormous compliment,” said Fanning. “I’m really excited about the race obviously this is a really close one and I am absolutely thrilled to have widespread support.”

Her opponent, current at-large councilor Kip Tew, was just endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police.

“I think I have the experience necessary to move the city forward and represent the interests of my district,” said Tew.